1616551 (Refugee)

The applicant, a citizen of Malaysia, sought a protection visa in Australia. The dispute centred on his claims that he had borrowed money from an unauthorised money lender, was unable to repay the debt, and had subsequently suffered severe physical violence and threats of death. He asserted that if returned to Malaysia, the money lender would easily find him and kill him, and that people were too scared to help him, with the police being unable to assist with such financial matters.

The court was required to determine whether the applicant met the criteria for a protection visa under section 36(2)(a) of the Migration Act 1958, which concerns a well-founded fear of persecution, or alternatively, under section 36(2)(aa), which relates to complementary protection obligations due to a real risk of significant harm upon removal from Australia. The legal issues involved assessing the credibility of the applicant's claims regarding his debt, the violence he allegedly suffered, and the threats made against him by the money lender and their associates.

The Tribunal found the applicant's evidence to be vague, inconsistent, and unconvincing. Specifically, the applicant provided contradictory accounts regarding the interest rate and monthly repayments of the alleged loan, the actions taken by the money lender when repayments were missed, and the capacity of his relatives to assist him financially. The Tribunal noted that the applicant's explanations for these inconsistencies, particularly concerning how the money lender was appeased and why his wife's jewellery was not taken, were not plausible, especially when contrasted with country information on the typical practices of illegal money lenders in Malaysia. Consequently, the Tribunal concluded that the applicant had not established that he borrowed a significant sum from an unauthorised money lender, nor that he faced a real risk of significant harm from such a lender or their associates upon return to Malaysia.

The Tribunal affirmed the decision not to grant the applicant a protection visa, finding that he did not satisfy the criteria under either section 36(2)(a) or section 36(2)(aa) of the Migration Act 1958.